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SMITH 
Why  Young  Men  Should  Study 
Shakesrieare 


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LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIEORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

GIFT  OF  MISS' PEARL  CHASE 


WHY  YOUNG  MEN  SHOULD 

STUDY  SHAKESPEARE 

BY 

C.  ALPHONSO  SMITH 


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HOW  TO  STUDY  SHAKESPEARE 

BY 

HAMILTON  WRIGHT   MABIE 


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THE    UNIVERSITY    SOCIETY 


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jWhy  Young  Men 
Should   Study   Shakespeare 

By    C  .    A  L  P  H  O  N  S  O    vS  M  I  T  H 

How  to  Study  Shakespeare 

By    HAMILTON    WRIGHT    MABIE 


The    University    Society 

78    Fifth    Avenue,    New  York 


/;;a^ 


Copyright  1902 

by 

The  University  Society 


UCSB   LIBRARY 


WHY   YOUNG  MEN   SHOULD 

STUDY   SHAKESPEARE 

By  C.  ALPHONSO    SMITH 

For  a  Knowledge  of  History. — "  Men  differ  from  the 
lower  animals,  in  part,"  says  Professor  C.  C.  Everett,  in 
his  "  Ethics  for  Young  People,"  "  because  whatever  one 
generation  gains  is  passed  on  to  the  next,  so  that  each 
starts  with  some  little  advantage  over  the  one  that  went 
before  it."  But  we  do  not  inherit  this  knowledge ;  we  are 
not  born  "  heirs  of  all  the  ages."  Every  young  man  or 
.woman  who  wishes  to  get  the  advantage  of  the  genera- 
tions that  have  gone  before  and  make  a  fair  start  with 
the  one  that  is  just  beginning  must  study  history;  for 
history,  in  the  largest  sense,  is  the  record  of  what  the 
race  has  thought  and  done.  And  in  the  realm  of  history, 
as  both  -teacher  and  interpreter,  it  would  be  hard  to 
overestimate  the  influence  of  Shakespeare. 

Sliakespeare's  historical  dramas  give  history  in  so 
vital  and  attractive  a  form  that  for  many  readers  they 
have  usurped  the  place  of  text-books  of  history.  Walter 
Scott,  the  founder  of  the  historical  novel,  did  little  more 
than  carry  on  the  work  begun  by  Shakespeare,  that  of 
popularizing  the  great  characters  and  the  leading  events 
of  history.  So  vivid  is  the  dramatist's  portrayal  that 
the  names  of  Caesar,  -Brutus,  Antony,  Cleopatra,  Corio- 
lanus,  Troilus,  Cressida,  and  others  are  inseparabl}^ 
linked  with  the  name  of  Shakespeare. 

But  in  the  domain  of  English  history  our  debt  to 
Shakespeare  is  still  greater.  "  All  the  English  history 
that  I  know,"  said  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  "  I  learned 
from  Shakespeare."     In  Shakespeare's  day,  Warwick- 


WHY  YOUNG  MEN  SHOULD 

shire,  in  whose  borders  the  decisive  battles  of  the  Wars 
of  the  Roses  had  been  fought,  was  a  storehouse  of  his- 
tory and  legend.  A  wealth  of  material  had  been  handed 
down  by  oral  tradition.  The  battle  of  Bosworth  Field 
was  fought  only  eighty  years  before  Shakespeare's 
birth.  Thus  the  history  that  he  narrates  is  the  history 
that  he  must  have  heard  recounted  in  his  youth  and 
early  manhood. 

This  gives  a  peculiar  value  to  Shakespeare's  English 
historical  plays,  a  value  that  historians  are  just  begin- 
ning to  appreciate.  In  the  preface  to  *'  The  Houses  of 
York  and  Lancaster,"  Mr.  James  Gairdner  says :  "  For 
this  period  of  English  history  we  are  fortunate  in  pos- 
sessing an  unrivaled  interpreter  in  our  great  dramatic 
poet  Shakespeare.  Following  the  guidance  of  such  a 
master  mind,  we  realize  for  ourselves  the  men  and  actions 
of  the  period  in  a  way  we  cannot  do  in  any  other  epoch. 
.  .  .  The  doings  of  that  stormy  age,  the  sad  calami- 
ties endured  by  kings,  the  sudden  changes  of  fortune  en- 
dured by  great  men.  the  glitter  of  chivalry,  and  the  hor- 
rors of  civil  war,  all  left  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
mind  of  the  nation,  which  was  kept  alive  by  vivid  tradi- 
tions of  the  past  at  tJw  time  that  our  great  dramatist 
zcrote." 

Shakespeare's  nearness,  therefore,  in  time  and  place 
to  the  events  that  he  records — to  say  nothing  of  his  un- 
rivaled powers  of  insight  and  presentation — not  only 
gives  him  an  advantage  over  modern  historians,  but 
makes  him  a  peculiarly  fitting  guide  for  those  who  arc 
just  entering  upon  the  serious  study  of  English  history. 

For  Maxims  of  Conduct. — "  Three-fourths  of  our 
daily  thought,"  says  Matthew  Arnold,  "  is  devoted  to 
questions  of  conduct.  In  the  case  of  the  young,  in  whom 
conduct  has  not  yet  crystallized  into  matured  and  un- 
conscious habit,  the  proportion  would  be  nearer  four- 
fifths." 

To  realize  the  influence  of  Shakespeare  in  the  direc' 

3 


STUDY  SHAKESPEARE 

tion  of  conduct  and  in  the  formation  of  character  one 
needs  only  to  remember  that  as  an  EngHsh  classic 
Shakespeare  ranks  next  to  the  Bible,  Shakespeare  and 
the  Bible  having  long  since  become  a  current  phrase. 
And  one  has  only  to  glance  over  a  book  of  Shakespeare 
quotations,  noting  the  number  and  familiarity  of  those 
that  interpret  or  enforce  conduct,  to  see  that  there  is 
sound  basis  for  the  popular  grouping  of  Shakespeare 
with  so  authoritative  a  book  of  conduct  as  the  English 
Bible. 

As  a  guide  in  conduct  Shakespeare  is  quoted  con- 
sciously and  unconsciously  by  learned  and  unlearned 
alike,  for  his  dramas  are  essentially  studies  in  conduct. 
In  these  dramas  personal  responsibility  is  never  merged 
or  abjured ;  a  man  remains  the  architect  of  his  own  for- 
tunes. The  ghosts,  dreams,  and  witches  occasionally 
employed  by  Shakespeare  do  not  compel  conduct ;  they 
only  illustrate  it.  Hamlet  suspected  his  uncle  before 
the  appearance  of  his  father's  spirit ;  Clarence's  dream 
was  but  the  confession  of  guilt ;  Macbeth  was  a  mur- 
derer at  heart  before  he  became  a  prey  to  "  supernatural 
soliciting." 

When  Cassius  says, 

"  The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars, 
But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings," 

he  touches  upon  one  of  the  central  differences  between 
the  Greek  drama  and  the  Elizabethan  drama ;  he  sug- 
gests also  the  chief  reason  why  Shakespeare  has  fur- 
nished so  many  more  maxims  of  conduct  than  ^^schy- 
lus,  Sophocles,  or  Euripides.  The  Greek  dramatists 
portrayed  man  as  evil-starred  or  fortune-starred  at 
birth ;  he  was  a  mere  puppet  in  the  hands  of  fate.  With 
wider  vision  and  clearer  insight  Shakespeare  puts  the 
emphasis  not  on  fate  or  destiny  but  on  character  and 
conduct;  not  only  crimes  but  venial  sins,  mere  errors  of 
judgment,  carry  within  them  the  seeds  of  their  own 

3 


WHY  YOUNG  MEN  SHOULD 

punishment.  It  is  this  fruitful  and  essentially  ethical 
point  of  view  that  has  stored  Shakespeare's  pages  with 
maxims  of  daily  conduct.  It  is  this  that  invests  his  char- 
acters with  so  vital  a  significance  for  all  those  who  are 
reaching  up  into  maturity  and  who,  beginning  to  feel 
the  possibilities  of  life,  wish  to  probe  deeper  into  its 
meaning  and  to  know  the  principles  of  its  right  conduct. 

For  a  Better  Knowledge  of  Human  Nature.—"  All 
the  world  's  a  stage,"  says  Shakespeare,  and  of  the  men 
and  women  who  play  their  parts  upon  it  he  has  not 
merely  sketched,  but  completely  individualized  two 
hundred  and  forty-six.  In  mere  number  r>alzac  sur- 
l^asses  Shakespeare;  but  when  we  consider  not  only  the 
gross  number  but  the  variety  of  types  and  the  clearness 
and  fulness  with  which  they  are  portrayed,  Shakespeare 
takes  easy  supremacy  over  all  other  writers,  ancient  and 
modern.  George  Eliot  has  individualized  one  hundred 
and  seven  characters,  Dickens  one  hundred  and  two,  and 
Thackeray  forty,  their  sum  total  being  hardly  more  than 
equal  to  Shakespeare's  single  output. 

It  is  a  mere  truism  to  say  that  no  one  may  hope  for 
success  in  any  calling  to-day  without  a  knowledge  of 
human  nature.  In  many  vocations — and  these  the  high- 
est— success  is  not  only  conditioned  on  but  proportioned 
to  an  insight  into  character.  No  one  can  expect  to  be- 
come a  successful  preacher,  teacher,  doctor,  editor,  law- 
yer, or  business  man,  who  does  not  have  a  keen  appre- 
ciation of  the  motives  that  govern  men  in  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life.  Knowledge  in  this  domain  is  power  and 
influence,  while  ignorance  is  weakness  and  inefficiency. 

The  knowledge  of  human  nature  that  a  young  man  or 
woman  has  gained  from  experience  and  observation 
may  be  good  as  far  as  it  goes ;  but  it  is  neither  wide 
enough  nor  deep  enough,  and  is  purchased  in  many 
cases  by  needless  errors  and  heartaches.  "  The  essence 
of  provincialism,"  says  Mr.  Mabie,  in  "  Books  and  Cul- 
ture," "  is  a  substitution  of  a  part  for  the  whole ;  the 

4 


STUDY  SHAKESPEARE 

acceptance  of  the  local  experience,  knowledge,  and 
standards  as  possessing  the  authority  of  the  universal 
experience,  knowledge,  and  standards  ;  the  local  experi- 
ence is  entirely  true  in  its  own  sphere ;  it  becomes  mis- 
leading when  it  is  accepted  as  the  experience  of  all  time 
and  all  men." 

For  a  knowledge  of  men  and  women  as  deep  as  it  is 
wide,  for  insight  into  social  life  as  well  as  individual  life, 
for  appreciation  of  the  depths  to  which  an  over-tempted 
nature  may  descend  or  the  heights  to  which,  in  spite 
of  hostile  environment,  a  determined  spirit  may  rise — 
Shakespeare  remains  our  supreme  teacher.  There  is 
no  text-book  of  human  nature  taught  in  our  schools  or 
colleges ;  such  a  text-book  may  be  found  in  Shake- 
speare, ^r^hree  centuries  have  served  only  to  accentuate 
his  preeminence  and  to  enhance  his  authority  as  a  guide 
through  the  mazes  and  inconsistencies  of  our  common 
nature^ 

For  Training  in  Expression. — It  would  seem  at  first 
glance  as  if  blank  verse  written  three  hundred  years  ago 
could  help  but  little  to-day  in  training  one  to  speak  and 
write  clear  and  forceful  prose.  While  it  is  true  that 
Macaulay,  Hawthorne,  and  Kipling,  for  example,  fur- 
nish something  not  found  in  Shakespeare,  it  is  also  true 
that  Shakespeare  furnishes  still  more  that  is  not  found 
in  them. 

The  art  of  composition  is  to  see  clearly  and  to  see 
whole.  Whatever  be  the  theme,  if  the  writer  or  speaker 
has  first  individualized  it,  his  words  will  be  clear  and 
apt ;  if  he  has  then  viewed  it  in.  its  relations,  whether 
these  be  the  relations  of  similarity  or  contrast,  of  mere 
analogy  or  illustration,  his  treatment  will  be  vital  and 
impressive.  In  these  two  respects,  the  ability  to  see 
clearly  and  to  see  whole,  Shakespeare  is  as  yet  un- 
rivaled. 

Every  character  that  he  has  portrayed,  every  plot  that 
he  has  employed,  every  incident  narrated,  every  scene 

5 


WHY  YOUNG  MEN  SHOULD 

described,  and  every  sentence  constructed  shows  that 
the  great  dramatist  had  seen  before  he  wrote.  He  had 
so  conununedwilh  liis  characters  and  so  thought  through 
his  plots  that  he  knew  the  very  Hneaments  of  the  one 
and  every  possible  unfolding  of  the  other.  Shake- 
speare's work  may  have  been  done  quickly  ;  it  could  not 
have  been  done  hastily.  /Thought  and  emotion  were 
held  in  solution,  until  they  precipitated  in  sharp  and 
definite  outline;'  In  spite  of  obsolete  words  and  idioms, 
his  style  is  a  model  of  clearness  and  vividness  ;  it  is  a 
series  of  pictures  the  study  of  which  is  a  liberal  educa- 
tion in  that  clearness  and  directness  of  vision  which 
must  precede  any  attempt  at  clearness  of  presentation. 

But  clearness  is  not  enough.  Euclid  and  Blackstone 
are  as  clear  as  Shakespeare.  What  is  the  secret  of 
Shakespeare's  wealth  of  illustration,  analogy,  and  con- 
trast? May  the  secret  be  learned?  The  principle  at 
least  may  be  learned ;  it  is  the  principle  followed  by 
every  writer  or  speaker  who  has  touched  the  heart  and 
imagination.  Shakespeare  not  only  visualized  his  char- 
acters and  incidents  as  units  in  themselves,  he  saw  them 
as  organic  parts  of  a  larger  whole.  To  see  a  thing  in 
its  entirety  one  must  see  it  in  its  relations  to  other 
things.  Every  illustration  employed  by  a  writer  or 
speaker — whether  it  be  drawn  from  nature,  art,  history, 
or  experience — is  the  statement  of  a  suggested  relation- 
ship and  is  prompted  by  this  faculty  of  seeing  things  in 
their  connections. 

To  see  clearly  one  must  see  individually ;  to  see  as  a 
whole  one  must  see  collectively.  Both  faculties  may  be 
greatly  increased  by  training ;  the  first  demands  more  of 
the  intellect,  the  second  of  the  imagination;  the  one 
separates,  the  other  combines ;  the  one  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  straight  line,  the  other  to  a  surface/  And  in 
both,  Shakespeare  offers  to  young  and  old  alike  an  in- 
exhaustible store  of  material  for  study  and  ])ractise.  At 
his  touch  the  abstract  becomes  concrete,  the  ideal  real, 
the  remote  near,  the  shadowy  substantial,  the  invisible 

6 


STUDY  SHAKESPEARE 

visible. ,  To  appreciate  his  style  at  the  very  outset  of 
one's  career,  before  vague  and  ineffective  methods  of 
expression  have  become  ingrained,  is  to  drink  at  a 
source  of  unfailing  pleasure  and  of  increasing   power.- 

For  Culture. — Culture  implies  growth.  It  is  the  un- 
folding of  the  mincT^aiid  heart  that  comes  from  contact 
with  what  is  best  and  highest.  It  means  enrichment 
of  character  and  emancipation  from  what  is  low  and 
provincial.  No  one,  especially  if  in  the  impressionable 
years  of  early  manhood  or  womanhood,  can  commune 
with  Shakespeare's  characters  or  think  Shakespeare's 
thoughts  after  him  without  receiving  an  access  of  cul- 
ture. Intellect,  imagination,  and  sympathy  are  enlarged. 
The  limitations  of  time  and  space  cease  to  be  felt.  The 
reader  shares  in  the  fulness  of  universal  truth  ;  he  feels 
afresh  the  depth  of  Shakespeare's  remark  that — 

/^  "All  places  that  the  eye  of  Heaven  visits 

Are  to  a  wise  man  ports  and  happy  events  " ;   , 

he  assimilates  the  wit  and  wisdom  and  beauty  of  a  race 
that  was  already  "  foremost  in  the  files  of  time  "  when 
Shakespeare  became  its  spokesman ;  he  sees  new  mean- 
ings in  life,  feels  a  new  awe  in  its  mysteries,  a  new  depth 
even  in  its  homelier  aspects,  and  a  new  stimulus  in  its 
possibilities.  Old  things  seem  new  to  him  by  the  nov- 
elty of  their  presentation,  and  new  things  seem  old  be- 
cause of  the  force  and  directness  with  which  they  are 
brought  home  to  his  consciousness.  Insensibly  he 
ceases  to  admire  what  is  crude,  shallow,  fragmentary, 
and  inartistic ;  and  grows  into  appreciation  of  what  is 
true,  vital,  whole,  and  harmonious.  He  is  made  to  real- 
ize that  life  is  more  than  thought,  and  that  sympathy 
and  imagination  have  a  depth  and  richness  beyond  the 
reach  of  intellect  and  learning. 

But  culture  is  not  only  growth  through  ideas  and 
feelings  ;"TFis  growth  through  will  and  service.    Shake- 

7 


spearc  portrays  men  not  in  isolated  but  in  close  relation 
to  the  society  about  them.  He  viewed  them,  as  we  have 
seen,  not  only  as  individuals,  but  as  social  factors.  The 
most  fruitful  lesson  to  be  learned  from  Shakespeare  is 
culture  as  social  service,  a  lesson  incomparably  phrased 
in  llic  dramatist's  own  words: — 

'-'  Heaven  doth  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do. 
y^    Not  light  them  for  themselves;  for  if  our  virtues 
Did  not  go  forth  of  us,  'twere  all  alike 
As  if  we  had  them  not.     Spirits  are  not  finely  touched 
Bat  to  fine  issues." 


How  to  Study  Shakespeare 

By  HAMILTON  WRIGHT  MABIE 

"  You  mig-ht  read  all  the  books  in  the  British  Museum,  if  you  could 
live  long  enough,  and  remain  an  entirely  illiterate,  uneducated  person. 
But  if  you  read  ten  pages  of  a  good  book,  letter  by  letter — that  is  to 
say,  with  real  accuracy — you  are  forevermore,  in  some  measure,  an 
educated  person." — RusKiN. 

IT  is  one  thing  to  read  and  another  thing  to  study ; 
and  yet  reading  is  the  chief  means  and  the  best 
method  of  study  when  one  is  trying  to  understand  a 
writer  or  a  piece  of  hterature.  The  lover  of  Shake- 
speare begins  by  reading  the  plays  for  pure  pleasure 
and  ends  by  reading  them  for  greater  pleasure.  In  the 
meantime,  he  may,  so  to  speak,  have  taken  them  to 
pieces,  examined  their  construction,  looked  at  the 
words  in  which  they  are  written  with  a  microscope, 
traced  their  historical  connections,  gone  back  to  their 
sources.  In  doing  this  work  of  analysis — for  it  is 
necessary  to  take  a  thing  to  pieces  in  order  to  find  out, 
how  it  is  put  together — he  may  become  so  much  in- 
terested in  the  detail  of  the  work  that  he  loses  sight 
of  Shakespeare  altogether  and  becomes  a  student  of 
language,  grammar,  the  structure  of  style,  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  drama.  This  is  what  sometimes  happens 
to  the  scholar;  in  studying  what  may  be  called  the 
mechanics  of  a  work  of  art  he  loses  sight  of  the  art  it- 
self. To  such  a  student  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  be- 
come a  quarry  out  of  which  great  masses  of  knowledge 
may  be  taken.  This  is  the  study  of  Shakespeare's  lan- 
guage, methods,  construction ;  but  it  is  not  the  study 


HOW  TO  stud: 

of  Shakespeare ;  and  it  is  with  the  study  of  Shakespeare 
that  this  paper  eoncerns  itself. 

The  best  approach  to  a  great  book  is  by  the  way  of 
simple  enjoyment.  If  1  am  to  see  the  Sistine  Madonna'' 
for  the  first  time  I  wish,  above  all  things,  to  give  my-^ 
self  up  to  the  pure  delight  of  looking  at  the  most  beau-( 
tiful  picture  ever  painted  by  man  ;  I  wish  to  surrender  \ 
myself  to  the  great  painter  and  let  his  thought,  ex-jf 
pressed  on  the  canvas,  sink  clear  and  deep  into  my 
spirit.  I  wish  to  keep  myself  out  of  sight ;  to  post- 
pone analysis,  minute  study  of  detail,  the  critical  at- 
titude. First  and  foremost  I  want  to  hear  what 
Raphael  has  to  say,  and  I  can  best  do  that  by  keeping 
silent  myself.  After  I  have  heard  him  I  can  argue 
with  him,  criticise  him,  condemn  him  if  I  choose;  but 
I  must  first  hear  him  to  the  end  and  without  interrup- 
tion. 

In  like  manner,  if  I  wish  to  know  Shakespeare,  I 
must  give  him  a  full,  free  opportunity  of  telling  me 
what  he  thinks  of  life,  how  he  understands  it,  what  it 
means  as  its  workings  are  revealed  in  the  careers  of 
men  and  women ;  and  if  I  am  to  get  any  impression 
of  his  way  of  telling  his  story  I  must  surrender  mvself 
to  him  and  let  him  do  what  he  can  with  me.  These 
are  the  first  things  I  must  do ;  and,  if  I  care  more  for 
the  substance  of  things  than  for  their  peculiarities  of 
structure,  more  for  the  truth  they  have  to  imnart  than 
for  the  order  of  words  in  which  they  impart  that  truth, 
more  for  the  living  spirit  than  for  the  skeleton  in  which 
it  is  lodged,  these  are  the  things  to  which  I  shall  come 
back  when  I  have  taken  the  plays  to  pieces  andex- 
amined  their  mechanism  with  a  microscope.  /The  ^ 
end  of  art  is  to  deepen  the  sense  of  life  and  to  give  de- ' 
light  and  exhilaration;  any  kind  of  study  which  se- 
cures these  results  is  good  ;  all  kinds  which  miss  them 
are  bad.   ' 

To  begin  with,  then,  the  student  of  Shakespeare  is 
to  remember  that  he  is  dealing  with  a  great  human 


SHAKESPEARE 

spirit  and  not  with  a  mass  of  literary  material ;  that  he 
IS  never  to  lose  the  feeling  of  reverence  which  such  a 
spirit  inspires;  that  he  is  handling-  human  documents 
and  not  the  stuff  of  which  grammars  and  rhetorics  are 
made.  To  keep  the  mind  open,  the  heart  tender,  the 
imagination  responsive :  these  are  the  prime  qualities 
in  our  friendships  for  one  another,  and  they  are  the 
prime  qualities  in  our  friendships  with  the  great 
writers. 

This  vital  study,  for  the  man  who  wishes  to  know 
Shakespeare  and  does  not  expect  to  gain  an  expert's 
knowledge  of  Shakespeare's  works,  is  a  very  simple 
matter.  All  fundamental  ways  of  dealing  with  the 
great  realities  are  simple ;  it  is  the  tricks  of  manner, 
the  skill  with  small  details,  which  are  abstruse  and  ob- 
scure. To  know  Shakespeare  one  needs,  first  of  all, 
a  good  edition  of  his  works  ;  this  means  a  well-printed 
and  well-bound  set  of  the  plays  and  poems,  of  a  size 
that  is  easy  and  comfortable  to  the  hand.  There  are 
several  editions  of  small  size,  but  printed  from  large, 
clear  type,  which  have  the  advantage  of  fitting  into 
a  pocket  without  discomfort.  If  one  has  little,  or  even 
a  great  deal  of  time  at  command  it  is  a  matter  of  prime 
importance  to  keep  Shakespeare  within  reach  ;  to  be 
able  to  put  ten  or  twenty  minutes  into  reading  "  Ham- 
let "  or  "  The  Tempest  "  on  a  train,  in  a  cable  car,  or 
while  one  is  waiting  at  a  station.  Many  men  have 
educated  themselves  by  using  the  odds  and  ends  of 
time  which  most  people  waste  because  they  have  never 
learned  what  Mr.  Gladstone  called  "  thrift  of  time." 

Having  become  the  possessor  of  a  good  edition  of 
the  works,  read  them  through  as  you  would  read  a 
novel,  giving  yourself  up  to  the  interest  of  the  story. 
People  forget  that  many  of  the  plays  were  suggested 
to  Shakespeare  by  the  stories  of  his  time  and  of  earlier 
times,  and  that  every  one  of_tliem  is  a  condensed  novel. 
If  Shakespeare  werTli'dtl^IacecrsoliTgh  on  the  shelves 
as  a  great  classic  it  is  probable  that  more  people  would 


HOW  TO  STUDY 

read  him  for  simple  entertainment;  for  he  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  writers  in  the  world.  Many  of  the 
plays  carry  the  reader  along  without  any  effort  on  his 
part;  just  as  "  The  Mill  on  the  Floss,"  "  Vanity  Fair," 
"  The  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  and  "  The  Scarlet  Letter  " 
carry  him  along.  Many  men  have  gained  their  most 
vivid  impressions  of  English  history  from  the  histori- 
cal plays,  and  at  least  one  English  statesman  has  not 
hesitated  to  confess  that  Shakespeare  taught  him 
nearly  all  the  English  history  he  knew. 

Read  the  plays,  therefore,  and  reread  them  contin- 
ually ;  for  after  one  is  familiar  with  the  story  one  be- 
gins to  be  interested  in  the  people,  anxious  to  under- 
stand them  and  to  know  why  they  think,  speak,  and  act 
as  they  do.  Great  books,1ike  the  men  who  make  them, 
are  many-sided  and  cannot  be  seen  at  the  first  glance ; 
one  must  approach  them  from  different  points  of  view, 
as  one  must  approach  a  mountain  if  one  is  to  have  an 
adequate  idea  of  its  size  and  shape.  One  must  read 
the  plays  many  times  before  one  hears  all  they  have 
to  say  and  sees  clearly  what  Shakespeare  is  trying  to 
do;  and  as  one  reads  he  reads  with  increasing:  insight 
and  with  more  deliberation.  He  gets  first  a  view  of 
the  whole  scene  which  Shakespeare  spreads  before 
him,  and  then  he  begins  to  recognize  the  number  and 
variety  of  the  objects  which  are  grouped  together  and 
combined  in  a  whole. 

This  familiarity  is  the  beginning  of  intimacy,  and  so 
naturally  and  inevitably  leads  on  to  the  best  and  truest 
knowledge  that  very  little  suggestion  need  be  made  to 
the  man  who  has  begun  to  read  the  plays  frequently 
and  regularly  because  he  enjoys  them.  Have  the  plays 
at  hand  in  a  convenient  form,  carry  one  with  you  if 
you  are  to  have  any  leisure  moments,  cut  down  the 
time  you  give  to  newspapers,  pujt_asjde  the  miscella- 
neous books  you  have  been  in  the  habit  of  reading  or 
are  tempted  to  read,  and  study  your  Shakespeare  as 
often  and  rcgularlv  as  vou  can ;  if  you  do  this  Shake- 


SHAKESPEARE 

speare  will  meet  you  more  than  half  way  and  reveal 
himself  to  you  in  ways  you  will  not  suspect  at  the 
start. 

You  will  not  need,  at  the  beginning,  any  elaborate 
apparatus  of  books  of  reference.  There  are  many 
admirable  books  about  Shakespeare  which  you  may 
wish  to  read  and  to  own  later,  but  at  the  start  you  will 
not  need  them.  The  best  editions  of  Shakespeare 
supply  all  the  information  essential  to  the  beginner. 
They  contain  introductions  which  tell  you  when  each 
play  w^as  written,  where  the  materials  were  found, 
how  each  play  is  related  to  the  other  plays,  and  con- 
vey other  information  which  helps  you  to  understand 
each  play  and  put  it  in  its  proper  place  ;  and  they  also 
contain  notes  which  explain  historical  and  other  ref- 
erences and  allusions,  the  uses  of  words,  obscure  pas- 
sages, and  disputed  points.  _A'dd  to  a  good  edition  of 
the  plays  Mr.  Sidney  Lee's  biography,  a  concordance 
of  the  plays,  Professor  Dowden's  "  Shakespeare's  Mind 
and  Art,"  and  read  the  essays  on  Shakespeare  by  Cole- 
ridge, Lowell,  Bagehot  and  other  standard  writers, 
whose  works  you~w111  find  in  the  libraries,  and  you 
have  all  the  machinery  of  study  you  need.  Read,  in 
addition,  the  history  of  Shakespeare's  age  in  English 
history  as  it  is  told  in  Green's  "  History  of  the  English 
People." 

The  time  will  probably  come  when  you  will  desire  a 
closer  intimacy  with  the  dramatist  who  has  so  broad- 
ened your  knowledge  of  human  nature.  It  will^  be 
stimulating,  too,  with  one  or  more  friends  who  are  of 
your  mind,  to  begin  a  more  systematic  study,  which 
need  not  demand  too  much  time.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  excellent  manuals  which  present  suggestions 
for  careful  and  thorough  study  of  the  plays. 

The  following  "  Suggestions  for  Study  "  are  taken 
from  the  programme  of  a  literary  society  in  New  York 
City,  and  may  serve  as  one  example  of  the  kind  of  guid- 
ance needed  by  students  in  the  earlier  stages  of  Shake- 


HOW  TO  STUDY 

spearian  study.  This  society  devoted  a  number  of 
evenings  to  the  play  of  "  Macbeth,"  and  to  the  special 
consideration  of  "  The  Nature  of  Poetry." 

The  Tragedy  of  Macbeth 

Suggestions  for  Study. — Read  the  whole  play 
carefully,  then  read  it  a  second  time.  Consider  the 
plot  and  principal  characters.  Has  it  a  distinct  moral 
purpose?  Has  it  a  historical  basis?  Sources  of  plot, 
and  incidents.  Reasons  why  it  is  a  great  drama. 
What  is  a  drama  ?  a  tragedy  ?  a  comedy  ?  Does  "  Mac- 
beth "  contain  genuine  and  lofty  poetry?  Which  is 
the  strongest  passage  in  the  play  and  why?  Name 
some  of  the  character  qualities  of  Lady  Macbeth. 
Are  Shakespeare's  women  inferior  to  his  men?  Was 
Macbeth  a  poet?  What  does  the  knocking  at  the  gate 
typify?  What  the  sleep-walking  scene?  The  weird 
sisters :  why  does  Shakespeare  make  them  real,  in- 
stead of  introducing  them  to  Macbeth  in  a  dream? 
what  do  they  stand  for  in  the  play?  Who  has  the 
more  conscience,  Macbeth  or  Lady  Macbeth?  What 
utterances  or  what  actions  prove  it?  How  do  you  ex- 
plain Macbeth's  hesitancy  before  the  murder,  and  his 
resolute  energy  and  audacity  afterward?  What  is 
the  clew  to  the  great  change  in  tire  will  power  of  Mac- 
beth ? 

What  is  the  difference  between  Lady  Macbeth  and 
the  two  sisters  in  "  King  Lear  "?  In  what  does  Mac- 
beth's punishment  consist?  What  one  word  contains 
it  all?  Was  Macbeth  a  coward?  If  he  was  a  coward, 
how  do  you  explain  'his  bravery  in  battle?  If  he  was 
not  a  coward,  how  do  you  explain  his  hesitancy  and 
scruples?  What  broke  down  Lady  Macbeth  at  the 
end?  Was  it  the  same  cause  which  broke  down  Mac- 
beth himself?  Malcolm  and  Macduff:  were  they  cow- 
ards in  fleeing  for  their  lives?     Did  anything  justify 


SHAKESPEARE 

Macduff  in  leaving-  his  family?  What  is  there  essen- 
tially significant  about  the  play  of  "  Macbeth,"  more 
than  the  obvious  truth  that  "  murder  will  out"?  Do 
you  regard  this  as  Shakespeare's  greatest  tragedy?  If 
so,  why?  What  elements  determine  the  greatness  of 
a  play? 

Required  Reading. — "  Macbeth." 

Suggested  Readings. — Tennyson's  "The  Foresters." 
"Hamlet." 

Suggestions  for  Study. — What  is  poetry?  What 
are  the  qualities  that  differentiate  it  from  prose? 
What  is  lyric  poetry?  Are  psalms  and  hymns  lyric 
poetry?  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "  Lyric 
beauty  in  Shakespeare's  plays"?  Describe  "epic," 
"  lyric,"  and  "  dramatic  "  poetry.  Define  the  words 
"ode,"  "sonnet,"  and  "elegy."  Is  Shakespeare  the 
greatest  English  dramatist?  Define  the  essential  quali- 
ties of  a  great  drama.  Can  love  of  poetry  and  other 
literature  be  acquired?  Elements  of  great  poetry; 
originality;  charm;  great  subjects  greatly  treated;  cor- 
rect poetic  construction;  vital  ideas  coherently  worked 
out  must  quicken  the  emotions.  Beauty  of  simple 
poetry  in  "  Dora  "  and  Book  of  Ruth.  No  metaphor, 
figure  of  speech,  or  decorative  adjective  in  "  Dora." 
The  meaning  of  iambic  pentameter,  dactyllic  hexam- 
eter, etc.  What  is  "  Society  Verse  "  ?  Is  there  such 
a  thing  as  "American  "  poetry?  Characteristics  of  the 
poetry  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  spiritual  ele- 
ment in  poetry.  Contemporary  and  universal  interest 
in  poetry.  Literature  of  knowledge  and  literature  of 
power:  define  each.  The  Bible  in  Tennyson  and  other 
poets.  Study  a  poem  as  a  whole,  its  plan,  story,  plot, 
vital  idea,  and  larger  teaching;  note  the  meaning  of 
paragraphs,  sentences,  phrases,  and  the  use  of  words. 

Suggested  Readings. — A  selection  of  the  best  short 
poems  in  the  English  language.  Mr.  Edmund  Clarence 
Stedman's  "  The  Nature  of  Poetry." 


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